Pokemon: And Then There Were None
by DocGummy
Summary: This is generally following the plot of the novel "And Then There Were None" but the characters have been replaced by Pokemon. Rated T. Featuring: Ninetales, Luxray, Raticate, Chansey, Slowking, Bellossom, Plusle, Minun, Wobbuffet, Cubone and Lucario.
1. The Arrival

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I own the characters.

* * *

Ninetales was the first guest to arrive at Pokemon Island. To be frank, she was surprised to have been invited. She worked as a school governess and had wide experience dealing with children.

Pokemon Island was basically a large rock with a house, beach and pier. The island was located about 10 miles off the coast of Rustboro City. Because of the close locations, the Devon Corporation once used Pokemon Island as a research facility.

Now, however, the island and the house belonged to a wealthy host.

The house was big and spacious, but had only two staff to manage it. One butler, Minun, and one cook, Plusle.

When Lapras dropped Ninetales off at the pier, Minun had come to show Ninetales to the house and take her luggage (which Minun found very difficult due to his small size).

And now, Ninetales was alone in the large, looming lounge waiting for her host and the other guests to arrive.

The host of the house had written to Ninetales asking to employ her as a secretary. Knowing the fame of Pokemon Island Ninetales didn't feel she could refuse.

Ninetales wandered around the lounge looking at the expensive furniture and classy antiques. There was a huge grand piano. She came to the fireplace and noticed a framed poem above the mantelpiece. It was a children's poem.

_10 little Pokemon went out to dine,_

_One choked his little self and then there were 9;_

_9 little Pokemon sat up very late,_

_One overslept himself and then there were 8;_

_8 little Pokemon travelling in Devon,_

_One said he'd stay there, and then there were 7;_

_7 little Pokemon chopping up sticks,_

_One chopped himself in halves and then there were 6;_

_6 little Pokemon playing with a hive,_

_A bumblebee stung one and then there were 5;_

_5 little Pokemon going in for law,_

_One got into Chancery and then there were 4;_

_4 little Pokemon went out to sea,_

_A red herring swallowed one and then there were 3;_

_3 little Pokemon walking in the zoo,_

_A big bear hugged one and then there were 2;_

_2 little Pokemon sitting in the sun,_

_One got frizzled up and then there was 1;_

_1 little Pokemon left all alone,_

_He went and hanged himself and then there were none._

Ninetales remembered singing that poem to her nursery school class. They always wanted her to sing it 10 times over.

Just then, Minun struggled to push open the door to the lounge and entered. He said: "Judge Slowking has arrived."

Judge Slowking was a stout fellow. He leaned on a crutch to one side, so Ninetales assumed his leg was broken. Slowking was elderly and looked rather old-fashioned.

He had been a judge for a great many years and was beginning to grow tired of it. If he had the money to retire he'd get on with it straight away.

"Good evening," said Slowking, slowly, "It's a marvellous house, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Did you see that perfectly sculpted marble clock in the hall? It is a remarkable effigy of an Ursaring."

Ninetales was beginning to think that Slowking wasn't worth talking to do. Almost silently, Minun opened the door again and said: "Luxray has arrived."

Luxray strolled into the room and confidently acquainted himself with the other two. He was notably tall and also fairly intimidating.

"Hello, people," said Luxray, "What do you think of the house?"

"It's very charming," said Slowking.

"Yes, it's very dear," agreed Ninetales. She looked out of the open window and saw Lapras arriving again with two more guests. _I_ _wonder how many people are coming…_ thought Ninetales.

Minun introduced the new arrivals as Cubone and Nurse Chansey. Cubone was the stumpiest guest so far, and he knew it. So Cubone went to sit on his own in green armchair in the corner of the lounge. Nurse Chansey was the complete opposite. She practically bounced into the room and smiled at everyone before commenting on how everything was wonderful and that she felt terrific.

Nurse Chansey started talking to Ninetales about the hospital she worked in.

"I'm a highly respected nurse," she said, "I do all sorts of things at the hospital. Of course I carry out hundreds of operations every year. That's a key part of my reputation."

Plusle, the cook, staggered into the room under the weight of a large bottle of wine. Minun followed her in supporting a tray of glasses. The guests watched as the two midgets tried to open the bottle. In the end, Luxray took the bottle and opened himself but gave Minun the "honour" of pouring the wine.

"Will you have wine, nurse?" asked Plusle.

Nurse Chansey looked almost shocked by the offer and said: "Oh, not for me, thanks. I never touch alcohol."

"Suit yourself, nurse," said Luxray, "All the more for the rest of us. Cubone, will you join us?"

At this offer Cubone immediately perked up and joined everyone else in the middle of the room. He then started talking about his interests.

"I am a huge car fan," said Cubone, "Cars are my sole purpose in life. If ever I see a car that I like, I buy it. I'm particularly wealthy, you see." As he spoke, Cubone raised his eyebrows at Ninetales. Judge Slowking chuckled a bit.

Once again Minun introduced another guest.

"General Wobbuffet has arrived."

The general seemed almost feeble at first, it was evident that he was elderly, even older than Judge Slowking. This was in great contrast to Ninetales, Luxray and Cubone, who were all reasonably young.

General Wobbuffet trotted over to the crowd and said: "How do you do ladies and gentleman, I'm General Wobbuffet of the Ninth Johto Platoon."

"How do you do, sir," said Ninetales.

Wobbuffet grumbled: "You youngsters need not call me "sir"."

It was a good long while before anyone else arrived. The general was thrilling Cubone with tales from the war, Chansey was annoying Judge Slowking with her views on happiness and Luxray was telling Ninetales how daft everyone else was.

The moon was fluorescent in the sky when Lapras finally came by with the last two guests. One guest was Raticate, as soon he entered the house his beady eyes scanned everyone suspiciously. The other was Bellossom, another old Pokemon who came in clutching a Bible and sat down upright and began knitting.

As Minun went round the room collecting the used glasses, Cubone said: "I've just noticed something, our host isn't here."

Half of the guests spluttered and Judge Slowking said: "I thought one of you lot was the host!"

"So did I!" exclaimed General Wobbuffet.

Ninetales remembered the invitation she received. It was signed off as Arcanine, the Head of Arcanine Independent Sports Network. Arcanine had been her closest friend in college and wanted to employ her – or so the letter claimed.

Luxray reflected on his own invitation, which was signed off as Captain Weavile who had commissioned Luxray to work in the Amazon. According to the letter, Weavile wanted to invite Luxray to a reunion of the "old days".

Minun interrupted everyone's trail of thought to inform them that dinner was prepared.

* * *

Overall, everyone agreed that dinner had been phenomenally delicious. This gave Nurse Chansey a chance to say more about her views on happiness in the modern world.

"I say that Plusle is a superb cook," said Bellossom in a forthright manner, "We need more honest workers like her about."

Minun and Plusle came into the dining room via the kitchen door and Minun asked: "Has everyone finished?"

After a number of additional compliments Minun collected the plates and went back into the kitchen.

Raticate then asked: "Plusle, you account for half of the staff on the island, you know who our host is, don't you?"

All of the guests looked eagerly at Plusle; they all wanted to know who their host was and why he or she was not with them tonight.

"Well," said Plusle nervously, "I've never actually seen my employer."

The judge said: "Are you telling us that you don't know who our host is even though you work for him? Or her?"

Plusle slowly shook her head. She genuinely did not know who her employer was. She explained that she and Minun had only been working on Pokemon Island for a couple of days and that the only communication they had with the host had been by letter. Silence followed.

Ninetales thought it her duty to steer the conversation away from the topic of "What is the identity of our host?" and decided to talk about the little stone statuettes in the middle of the dining table. She said: "Aren't those little figures adorable?"

Nurse Chansey agreed. "Oh, yes. If I'm not mistaken, they resemble ancient Pokemon. I wonder how many little Pokemon there are?"

Cubone quickly counted them and said: "10."

Nurse Chansey's melodramatic smile widened when she heard this. She said: "How wonderful! It's just like that poem above the fireplace. _10 little Pokemon went out to dine_ and so on. And in the end all of the little Pokemon have gone away."

Luxray decided to join in with this conversation. "Hm, if you include Plusle and Minun there are 10 of us on this island."

Chansey was now hysterical. "Isn't this exciting?"

Raticate desperately wanted to gnaw Nurse Chansey's tongue off just to make her shut up. Nurse Chansey did shut up as soon as Minun re-entered the room.

"Ladies and gentleman, as you are aware; your host has been delayed on the Magnet Train and will not be able to arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. Lapras has delivered a letter on your host's behalf requesting that you all be in the lounge at 9 o'clock. Thank you."

The guests left the dining room and Plusle and Minun cleared the dining table. Plusle turned to Minun and asked: "What were our instructions?"

Minun said after a moment: "The host wrote in his letter that we were to play his Swan Song CD at 9:00 and we should also be in the lounge from then on to serve whisky and cocktails to the guests."

Plusle began to grumble. She said: "I think we should quit and find a different job."

Minun was surprised. "This is a famous house, and the owner is rich. Why do you want to leave?"

"Don't you think our employer is asking a bit much of us?" she asked, "We don't his or her name, we don't have any verbal communication, there isn't a telephone on this island and we have a large party of guests during our first week of working here!"

Minun looked glum and continued to work in silence.

* * *

8:55pm. As requested, everyone was assembled in the lounge. Plusle wheeled in a whisky tray and quickly moved away to avoid having Cubone and Luxray trample her. It seemed that whisky was a favourite of theirs.

Bellossom sat in the same chair as before and resumed knitting. Raticate paced around the edge of the room. Cubone sat in the corner, swigging his whisky. Nurse Chansey and General Wobbuffet sat on the sofa whilst discussing matters of (guess what) happiness. Judge Slowking sat at the far end of the room next to the stereo; he was resting his tired eyes. Luxray gulped down his whisky and went over to the grand piano and played while Ninetales stood and sang the poem.

"_10 little Pokemon went out to dine, one choked his little self and then there were 9…_"

Slowking began muttering to himself. "The place for nursery rhymes is in the nursery!"

Nurse Chansey bounced over to Slowking and said: "Having fun, judge? I am!"

Judge Slowking frowned and went to sit down opposite Bellossom. "So," he said, "what do you think of it all?"

Bellossom looked up from her knitting and said: "I don't know what you mean."

Slowking replied: "I mean this whole setup. It reminds of a case I presided over in court, lots of suspicion floating about."

Bellossom seemed almost shocked by his words and dropped her knitting needles. She scrambled about on the floor to pick the up and suddenly she said in a harsh tone: "Have you taken my wool? There's a ball of gray wool missing from my knitting bag."

Slowking backed away from Bellossom nervously. He thought, _That old woman, there's something wrong with her…_

Ninetales carried on singing: "_4 little Pokemon going out sea_…"

Raticate stopped to talk to Cubone. "It's terrible, this poem."

Cubone's voice sounded unstable when he replied: "Yeah, but there's whisky. By the way, do you have a car? I was thinking of buying the new Donphan Proto…"

The poem drew to an end: "_1 little Pokemon left all alone, he went and hanged himself and then there were none_."

As soon as Luxray stopped playing an empty voice spoke from all around the room. It was a terrible and unearthly voice. Every word echoed throughout the house. The voice said: "_Silence please! This is your host speaking. You are charged with the following indictments:_

_Bellossom, that you were responsible for the death of Whismur, your scullery maid;_

_Cubone, that while driving over the national speed limit, you ran over and killed Cleffa and Igglybuff;_

_General Wobbuffet, that during the Great Pokemon War you sent Vibrava on a suicide mission;_

_Judge Slowking, that due to prejudice you wrongfully gave a death penalty to Houndoom;_

_Luxray, that while working in the Amazon you caused the deaths of 21 native Bidoof;_

_Nurse Chansey, that you killed Wormadam whilst operating on her due to drunkenness; _

_Ninetales, that you allowed and are thus responsible for the drowning of Riolu;_

_Raticate, that by providing false evidence in court you caused the death of Poliwhirl;_

_Plusle and Minun, that you deliberately murdered your former employer, Delcatty._

_Prisoners at the bar, have you anything to say in your defence_?"

Everyone was silent. Then it started again: "Silence please! This is your host speaking. You are –"

"Make it stop!" yelled Ninetales.

Minun ran over to the stereo and ejected the CD. He turned round every eye in the room was upon him.

The judge asked: "Why did you play that record, Minun?"

Minun suddenly began talking very fast: "I didn't know what it was! I swear I didn't! I thought it was just a piece of music! It's labelled Swan Song! I was only obeying orders!"

The judge calmed Minun down and said: "Let's get this perfectly clear. Whose orders were they and what were these orders?"

Minun said slowly: "They were the host's orders. He said in his letter to play the CD at 9:00 and to make sure everyone was in hear at the time."

Nurse Chansey decided to take charge of this awkward situation. She said: "We have been invited here under false pretences. Our must be some kind of lunatic. We should all get off this island as soon as possible."

Minun cut in: "Um, excuse me, but, well…I don't think you will be able to leave tonight. Or tomorrow. You see, Lapras only comes on Friday and Monday unless told otherwise by the owner of this house. There isn't a telephone here, either."

Judge Slowking said figuratively: "Today is Friday, unless our host plans to keep away until Monday, we are unable to leave before then."

Bellossom grunted and knitted more vigorously. She thought, _there is no need at all for that judge to state the obvious. But I say that we are here by the Lord's will_.

Cubone walked over to the sideboard and refilled his glass with whisky then he banged the empty whisky bottle against the wall to get everyone's attention. Once he had it he said: "Listen. The accusation against me is true. The host said on that CD that I ran over Cleffa and Igglybuff. I say to you people tonight that I did run them down with my car!"

Bellossom raised a hand to point at Cubone and she said: "You are possessed by the devil!"

Ninetales was equally horrified: "What happened? Was it an accident?"

Cubone seemed almost proud to be recounting his story. "I just bought a brand new car and I thought to myself, "Let's see just how fast this car can go". I was driving so fast! It was magnificent! And then, two little blobs in the road, and…" Cubone trailed off, as if he were remembering a tragic event. "They took my licence to drive away!"

Judge Slowking nearly dropped his cocktail and said: "Good grief! You should have been given time in prison and had your licence permanently withheld!"

Cubone grinned: "I had enough money to bribe the police and the court."

Ninetales was unable to stop herself saying: "That's horrible! You little snob!"

Cubone wasn't perturbed by this intervention. He raised his whisky glass and said: I'm all for crime, here's to it!" Cubone swigged his whisky.

It was almost as if Cubone had signed his own death warrant with those last words. While he drank he suddenly jerked and the glass fell from his hand. Cubone clasped his throat and fell against the window; he then staggered into the middle of the room and collapsed.

Bellossom said indignantly: "How disgusting. Such behaviour is disgraceful."

"He's just drunk," muttered Raticate.

Nurse Chansey sighed and walked over to Cubone. She bent down, slapped Cubone's cheeks and then felt for a pulse. There was no pulse.

Chansey screamed out loud: "He's dead!"


	2. The Absent Host

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I own the characters concerned

* * *

Plusle fainted. The shock of the whole evening had overwhelmed her. Nurse Chansey and Minun carried Plusle upstairs and put her to bed. Chansey left Plusle a box of sleeping pills and instructed her on the dosage.

Raticate and Luxray carefully carried Cubone up to his room and returned to the lounge, followed shortly after by the nurse and the butler coming back downstairs.

Nurse Chansey said: "Plusle will be fine; I've given her some sleeping tablets."

The judge spoke. "Nurse, tell me, have you examined Cubone?"

Nurse Chansey shuddered. "Yes. I believe he died as a result of consuming poison. Probably cyanide. The poison would have completely closed up his throat and caused asphyxiation. So, in effect, Cubone choked."

"Cyanide isn't something you come across every day," said Luxray, "It's only medical people like you, Nurse, who have any."

Chansey was inflamed. "Are you suggesting that I poisoned poor Cubone?"

"It's always possible that Cubone put the poison in his glass himself," suggested Raticate, "He may have been suicidal."

"No, no, no!" cried Chansey, "Cubone wasn't the suicidal type."

Bellossom and General Wobbuffet had sat quietly for a while. As it was late, they decided that they were fed up and were going to bed. This acted as a trigger and everyone else went to bed too. Minun stayed downstairs to clear away the mess that had been made and Judge Slowking offered to help. They went into the dining room to pick up the unused cutlery.

Minun instantly thought that something wasn't quite right about the dining table. _How many little Pokemon figures are supposed to be on the table?_

"Sir," said Minun.

"What is it Minun?"

"Do you remember dinner, when people were talking about the little Pokemon statuettes in the middle of the table?"

"Yes, I do."

Minun paused for a brief moment before saying: "How many statuettes were there?"

Judge Slowking was puzzled by this question. "There were 10. Why did you want to know?"

Minun said nothing. Instead he pointed at the little Pokemon figures. Slowking followed his hand and stared blankly at the stone figures. Then all of a sudden he realised. _There are only 9…_

* * *

Morning came very quickly. This was likely because the assembly of strangers had stayed up fairly late. Minun had given up trying to wake up Plusle and started taking breakfast trays round to everyone in their rooms. Nurse Chansey was still asleep when Minun came in.

"Good morning, nurse," said Minun, "It's a lovely day."

"Oh, splendid!"

Minun opened Chansey's bedroom window and then said cautiously: "Nurse, could you come and have a look at Plusle?"

"Why? Is there a problem?"

Minun started to fidget. "Well, I couldn't wake her up."

Nurse Chansey sighed and said: "The pills I gave her are probably still in effect, but if it makes you feel better, I'll have a look at Plusle."

* * *

Luxray accompanied Ninetales down the stairs and into the dining room. The dining room was completely empty.

"Oh," said Ninetales, "I thought Plusle would be here serving coffee. She said she'd do that."

Ninetales walked over to the window and stared out at the sea. _The sea…the deep sea… so deep you could drown…_

**FLASHBACK**:

"_Ninetales, that you allowed and are thus responsible for the drowning of Riolu."_

**END FLASHBACK**.

It must have been 10 minutes before Judge Slowking and Raticate came into the room, followed shortly after by Bellossom who sat down in her seat and started knitting again.

"Is there no coffee?" asked the judge.

"No, there isn't," said Ninetales.

General Wobbuffet came into the dining room through the door on the opposite side of the room. He asked: "Did anyone sleep well?"

Slowking responded with a statement: "You ask that question as if you doubt anyone slept well."

Bellossom said: "I slept very well. I have nothing on my conscience. I daresay some of you lost sleep after being accused of murder last night."

The guests exchanged grim expressions with each other. They all knew it was true. None of them had slept well after the host accused them all of murder and not to mention the untimely death of one of their number.

Bellossom continued: "Shouldn't there be coffee this morning? Plusle is being very slack today."

"I'm afraid coffee is out of the question," said Nurse Chansey, entering the room, "I must inform you all of the sad news that Plusle died in her sleep."

"That's terrible!"

Raticate's response was unsympathetic. "I don't believe in 2 accidental deaths in the space of 9 hours. Something's up."

Minun edged his way into the dining room. He looked up at everyone. His eyes were swollen and his face was wet from crying over his beloved spouse. There was no life left in his tiny body.

He said: "I'm sorry there isn't any coffee, but…you see, my wife…" Minun couldn't finish. He turned and ran into the kitchen and made loud sobbing noises. Nurse Chansey ran in after him.

Judge Slowking sat down and stared at the little Pokemon statuettes in the middle of the table.

"8," he said.

"Pardon?"

Slowking sighed. "After the incident with Cubone's poisoned whisky last night, Minun found one Pokemon statuette broken, which left 9. Poor Plusle passed away during the night and now there are only 8 little Pokemon."

"There are 8 of us on the island now," said General Wobbuffet.

Slowking continued: "If I'm not mistaken, there is some kind of link with that childish poem Ninetales sang for us last night. Ninetales, perhaps you would repeat the first 2 verses?"

Ninetales suspiciously recited: "_10 little Pokemon went out to dine_..."

"Were there not 10 of us at dinner last night?"

"_One choked his little self and then there were 9_."

"Nurse Chansey stated that Cubone choked."

"_9 little Pokemon sat up very late, one overslept himself and then there were 8_."

"Plusle died in her sleep. The next verse in the rhyme is _8 little Pokemon travelling in Devon, one said he'd stay there and then there were 7_. This island was once the property of the Devon Corporation. Because we are all in the same position, essentially, anyone could be next."

Everyone was stunned.

Raticate turned his shrewd stare upon Judge Slowking. "You seem to be particularly clever, judge."

"It's extraordinary, "death-by-poem"."

"Wait a minute," said Luxray, "Are you saying that Cubone and Plusle were both murdered?"

"Yes."

Ninetales gasped. "Who would want to do that?"

Slowking's answer was simple. "Our anonymous host, of course."

Raticate intervened. He had his own ideas of what could have happened. Raticate had explained during the previous evening that he used to be a detective. Raticate still possessed the sense of suspicion that caught people off guard.

"How do we know Minun didn't do away with Plusle himself?" said Raticate.

"Did you see the state poor Minun was in?"

"I don't care about his state; both Plusle and Minun were accused by our host of murdering one of their old employers. Supposing that our host was right. Supposing Plusle was so scared that she was going to confess. Supposing Minun killed her to shut her up."

"Nurse Chanesy tells me that Plusle probably overdosed on some kind of tablets," said Ninetales, "Chansey gave Plusle some tablets to make her sleep last night. Maybe Plusle took too many at once and died accidentally."

Bellossom decided to go head with the usual role of "sensible-woman-who-finishes- the-debate" and pointed out: "Standing around talking about it won't make the matter any better."

"Quite right, Bellossom," said Judge Slowking, "I'm going to have a think about all of this."

Gradually, everyone filed out of the room except for General Wobbuffet, who was left sitting in his chair. He was thinking sad thoughts. _I don't think a man could ever kill his wife_._ Ever…_

* * *

Bellossom marched up the stairs into her room and fetched her knitting bag and Bible. She then marched downstairs and out of the front door and strolled onto the terrace and sat on a firm chair in the shade. From here she had a superb view of most of the island. The house was behind her; the stone steps going down to the beach and the pier were in front of her. She opened her Bible at Exodus and then stopped to think. _Who keeps taking my knitting wool_? Bellossom put down her Bible and began to survey her surroundings. I think I should keep an eye on the other guests. The devil could be within them. She saw Judge Slowpoke on the opposite side of the terrace to her right, Ninetales was sitting on a rock on the beach, and General Wobbuffet was sitting in a small chair down on the beach as well. Nurse Chansey and Minun were nowhere to be seen, but Bellossom could here Luxray and Raticate talking in the hall.

Raticate was convinced that their host was on the island. He was telling Luxray. "That host is on this island, he killed off Cubone and Plusle. But our host has made a very crucial mistake. Pokemon Island is more or less just a rock in the sea. There's nowhere outside to hide."

Luxray said: "What about inside the house?"

"I've checked all around the downstairs for hiding places, I'll check the rooms next."

"Ok," Luxray agreed, "I'll search the outside of the house."

Raticate went upstairs an Luxray went outside and looked around. He though, _Raticate is right, there's nowhere to hide on this terrace, I'll check the beach._

Luxray descended the steps down to the beach. He walked along the beach and passed Ninetales, who didn't seem to notice him. Luxray carried on walking, eyeing the rocks to the edge of the beach. He stopped when he came to General Wobbuffet.

"Morning, general," said Luxray, "Raticate and I are searching the island. Have you seen anywhere out here where someone could hide?"

The general replied in a low and weary voice: "A search is useless. It is the end."

Luxray was confused and so chose to ignore the general's ramblings. The general was old, and old people are liable to be a bit insane sometimes.

About 10 minutes after Luxray left, Ninetales came to talk to the general.

"Are you looking out to sea?" she asked.

"Yes."

"If you're looking out for Lapras there isn't any point. She won't come back until Monday."

"Child, I was not thinking of Lapras," said General Wobbuffet, "I was remembering my wife, Xatu."

"Did you love her a lot?"

Wobbuffet's voice became even sadder. Images of his wife flying elegantly in the Hoenn meadows flashed across his aging mind. He sighed and said: "I loved Xatu more than anything else in the world. But eventually she didn't love me anymore. She loved that cretin Vibrava."

**FLASHBACK**:

"_General Wobbuffet, that during the Great Pokemon War you sent Vibrava on a suicide mission."_

**END FLASHBACK**.

Wobbuffet continued: "Lt. Vibrava was besotted with Xatu, I loved Xatu so much I was prepared to kill to keep her to myself. Yes, I did send Lt. Vibrava on a suicide mission. I wanted him dead. Our host did not lie."

Ninetales was in shock. _This kind old man, I don't believe he would do such a thing._

Wobbuffet still wasn't finished. "And now, child, I sit here, by the sea, trying to forget before the end comes. I shall sit here and wait for my death. It is the end, you see. We're here forever. The end of all of us. None of us will ever leave Pokemon Island. It is the end! I will stay here."

Ninetales was worried and afraid. The general had just said he would stay. _8 little Pokemon travelling in Devon, one said he'd stay there and then there were 7_.

Ninetales ran up to the house. She didn't know what was going to happen to the general now. She knew she couldn't stop the general being murdered. Ninetales wanted to get as far away from the general as she could.

* * *

At 12 o'clock Minun had begun to recover after his tragic loss. Nurse Chansey had helped him to prepare lunch. Minun rang the dinner gong, which echoed all around the island, telling the inmates that it was feeding time.

Minun started to bring trays into the dining room from the kitchen, Nurse Chansey and Ninetales were already seated at the table. Chansey was smiling as usual – much to Ninetales' disgust. _It's horrible, that nurse just keeps on smiling even though she could drop dead before tomorrow_.

Luxray and Raticate came into the dining room and too their seats. Raticate was grumbling: "We've searched the whole island and there is nowhere our host could hide without us finding him – or her."

"That settles it then," said the nurse, "Our host is not on the island, therefore he or she cannot be killing us and therefore Cubone and Plusle died as a result of either suicide or accident."

Judge Slowking and Bellossom were next into the room. So now, they were waiting for General Wobbuffet, but Ninetales knew he wouldn't come. However, she did not say.

"Where's the general?" asked Bellossom.

Nurse Chansey leapt to her feet and said: "I think saw him on the beach, I'll go and fetch him."

Nurse Chansey left and Luxray said: "She'd better be quick, it's starting to rain."

The rain started to beat down on the dining room window. The raindrops sounded like drumming, drumming like a musical funeral precession.

Minun laid out a few more dishes on the table and said: "I hope lunch is alright, I did the best I could. I've never prepared a meal myself. Oh, by the way, has anyone seen the bathroom curtain?"

"That's a funny question to ask," said Raticate.

"Well the bathroom curtain is missing, I don't understand why. I'm only a butler. If anyone sees it, please put it back. It's bright red, it will stand out."

Ninetales could feel the tension rising. She knew that General Wobbuffet was dead. She glanced at the figures on the dining table. _There are 7 little Pokemon left…_

The sound of running footsteps could be heard. Nurse Chansey bounded into the room and yelled: "General Wobbuffet is dead!"

* * *

10:00pm. Everyone gathered in the lounge to discuss the present situation. Minun served cocktails as Judge Slowking stood up and began talking.

"Out of the 10 of us that arrived on this island, only 7 remain. We will discuss these murders tonight, but first I would like to examine the past."

Slowking hobbled over to the stereo on his single crutch and played the terrible accusing CD from the previous evening.

"_Silence please! This is your host speaking. You are charged with the following indictments:_

_Bellossom, that you were responsible for the death of Whismur, your scullery maid;_

_Cubone, that while driving over the national speed limit, you ran over and killed Cleffa and Igglybuff;_

_General Wobbuffet, that during the Great Pokemon War you sent Vibrava on a suicide mission;_

_Judge Slowking, that due to prejudice you wrongfully gave a death penalty to Houndoom;_

_Luxray, that while working in the Amazon you caused the deaths of 21 native Bidoof;_

_Nurse Chansey, that you killed Wormadam whilst operating on her due to drunkenness; _

_Ninetales, that you allowed and are thus responsible for the drowning of Riolu;_

_Raticate, that by providing false evidence in court you caused the death of Poliwhirl;_

_Plusle and Minun, that you deliberately murdered your former employer, Delcatty._

_Prisoners at the bar, have you anything to say in your defence_?"

Judge Slowking stopped the CD and said: "We know that Cubone and General Wobbuffet were both guilty. Minun, I understand that it is painful for you at this time, but perhaps you could tell us your side of the story about Delcatty."

Minun scowled at the judge and then started talking about his "Past Crime".

"Me and Plusle used to work for Delcatty," said Minun, "We were butler and cook for her as well. Delcatty was ill and had been for a long time, we took care of her until the very end."

"Did Delcatty die from her illness?"

"Yes, there was never a word said against me and my wife – even though we inherited Delcatty's money."

"MONEY!" Raticate burst out. "It's always about money!"

"We did not murder Delcatty," said Minun, forcefully.

The judge had been writing all of this information down in a tiny notebook. He flipped the page over carefully and then turned to face Luxray.

"Luxray, you come across as rather free-spirited and relaxed."

"What's your point?"

Slowking gave Luxray and earnest look and said gravely: "Our host has accused you of murdering 21 Bidoof in the Amazon. Are you going to clarify that?"

Luxray sat up in his chair and grinned at everyone in the room. "I was sent to work on hostile affairs in the Amazon; my squad was working in connection with a Bidoof tribe. The tribe's chief commissioned 21 Bidoof under my control. I took them on a trek through the Amazon, but supplies were low. If I continued to share the supplies evenly we would all die. So, while the bidoof slept, I took all supplies and went back to base camp without them."

Bellossom rested her aged, but sharp eyes on Luxray. "You abandoned them. You abandoned 21 fellow Pokemon?"

"Yes, I didn't want to die."

Ninetales had been sitting next to Luxray but now she wanted to avoid him. _He left 21 Bidoof to die in the Amazon. He horrible…_

Judge Slowking was disgusted by Luxray's negligent lifestyle and did not feel compelled to carry on with his inquiries. However, his judgmental spirit forced his will to continue. The judge turned to face Nurse Chansey.

"Nurse, you have been accused operating while drunk. That isn't appropriate for a medical professional such as yourself."

The nurse suddenly became very tense and annoyed. She started to resemble a boiled egg. "I don't remember ever operating on Wormadam. I am a responsible nurse; I do not drink alcohol at all. I have never been drunk in my life."

The nurse's mind didn't fit her words. _I was drunk, just plain drunk. I was so silly. How could anyone find out? How?_

Judge Slowking began to recount his own little story. "I have been accused of taking a prejudice view on Houndoom, and then sentencing him to death wrongfully. I remember the Houndoom case well. Houndoom had a very could defence council but the evidence clearly pointed out that Houndoom was guilty so I gave him the death penalty. I did my duty, nothing more or less."

Bellossom thought, _that_ _seems fair enough, the guilty criminal was punished_.

Judge Slowking now came to Raticate, who immediately knew was coming his way.

Raticate stood up quickly and said: "I never met Poliwhirl so I couldn't have killed him!"

"I disagree," said Luxray.

Raticate winced. "I deny everything."

Ninetales' conscience got the better of her. She believed in intuition. She said to Raticate: "I think you did do it."

Raticate turned on Ninetales and said: "At least I don't drown kids!"

"You have no right to stay that!"

"Will you both be quiet!" yelled Bellossom. This feeble old woman was beginning to feel the tension at last.

Slowking turned a kind eye on Bellossom and said: "Perhaps you have something to say about our host's accusation against you?"

Bellossom's response was plain and simple: "I have nothing to say." Then Bellossom frowned. "I think that girl does." Bellossom raised her arm and pointed at Ninetales.

Ninetales felt like bashing Bellossom's head in. _Anyone who knows me will say I didn't drown that kid. But I'm among strangers here. I'll have to get used to these people. Then again, they might not be here tomorrow…_

Ninetales said clearly: "The host says I drowned Riolu. This is not true. I used to be Riolu's private tutor, and I was very fond of Riolu's uncle, Lucario. One day, Lucario wanted to thank me for the time I spent teaching Riolu, he took us both to the Hawaiian coast. Lucario went to buy everyone ice cream and left me with Riolu. Riolu was a bit of a brat. He would always whine and tell lies. He wanted to swim out to a big rock in the sea to impress his uncle. I told Riolu it was too far out and unsafe. But Riolu didn't listen, he swam out to sea while I was distracted. I tried to swim after him, but I was too late and Riolu drowned. I didn't everything I could to save Riolu."

Ninetales was very tired now. She slumped back in her chair.

Judge Slowking asked: "Did you ever see Lucario again?"

Tears began to form in Ninetales' eyes. "No, when Riolu died, Lucario couldn't bring himself to smile anymore. I don't know what happened to him."

There was a very long silence.

Judge Slowking drew breath and said: "Now, I think we should discuss the more recent deaths. Cubone may have killed himself, Plusle may have overdosed by accident but we know that these deaths are murders! General Wobbuffet was bludgeoned to death earlier today. I think we must discuss who could have murdered our comrades."

"It's obvious," said Ninetales, "our host is hiding and is also murdering us whenever possible."

Raticate became frenzied. "We searched the whole island! There is nowhere for anyone to hide therefore our host is not on the island!"

"I disagree," said Judge Slowking. Raticate was almost shocked by the interjection. Slowking continued: "We know from the search that our host would only be able to come to the island in full view of everyone else. Do you know what this means? I will tell you. The murderer is one of us."

The 7 suspects did not gasp or shriek. Instead, their thoughts automatically suspected one of the others.

_It's Chansey._

_It's Luxray._

_It's Minun._

_It's Slowking._

_It's Ninetales._

_It's Bellossom._

_It's Raticate._


	3. Buzz

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I own the characters concerned

* * *

No-one slept very well.

Raticate was being tormented by dreams of being in prison and working until the day he died. _I shouldn't be here, in this prison, I never did anything…_

Nurse Chansey dreamed that she was in the operating theatre, she was wearing a white guard-apron and she was holding a large knife and syringe, both of which were covered in blood. She could see blood all over herself, blood on her hands.

Luxray didn't seem to dream at all. He woke up in bed and squinted as the sun shone through the curtains, he yawned. _Looks I lived through the night_. He turned to look at the clock. It was 11:45am. _That can't be right. Minun should have come in to wake me up over 3 hours ago._

Luxray quickly prepared himself for the day and exited his room. He met Ninetales and Slowking at the top of the stairs. They had slept in too.

"I don't know where Minun is," said Ninetales, "He probably hasn't woken up himself yet."

Raticate came out of his room and joined the other 3. A moment later, they were joined by Nurse Chansey, who had bags under her eyes. She said: "What's going on? Why didn't Minun wake me up this morning?"

"We'd all like to know that," said Raticate.

"I wonder if Bellossom has seen Minun this morning," said Judge Slowking.

"I heard her leave her room, maybe she went to have breakfast without us," said Ninetales.

"Hang on," said Raticate, "We're forgetting that there's a murderer at large. If Minun is the killer he'll be trying to lure us downstairs."

Luxray ignored this statement and led the way downstairs. "I'll see if he's in the kitchen."

"I'll look outside," said Ninetales as Luxray left the room.

Ninetales went out the front door and walked around the side of the house and onto the terrace. Then she stopped, she could see the woodshed. The door to the woodshed was open so Ninetales went to investigate.

Outside the woodshed Ninetales found a heap of small and finely chopped pieces of wood and an axe. _An axe…a red axe?_ The poem started ringing through Ninetales' brain. _7 little Pokemon chopping up sticks, one chopped himself in half and then there were 6._ Ninetales entered the woodshed and screamed at the Minun's dismembered remains.

Luxray was almost instantly by her side and pulled away from the messy corpse. Bellossom then arrived on the scene.

"What's that girl screaming about?"

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I went for a walk," said Bellossom, flatly.

Neither Luxray nor Ninetales believed her. _She's the one…_

* * *

Judge Slowking had called everyone together at lunch time. He, Nurse Chansey, Luxray and Raticate were in the dining room. Ninetales and Bellossom were in the kitchen trying to prepare a meal.

Bellossom said: "It is very inconvenient that all of the servants have been cast out from the realms of the living. We have no idea where the majority of the food is stored.

Ninetales wasn't concerned about the food as much as she was about her own safety. She believed Bellossom was the insane criminal who invited them all to Pokemon Island and then accused them all of murder. She decided to explore the matter.

Ninetales asked: "How do you feel about the others?"

Bellossom ignored her.

She asked another question: "Do you think any of them could be murderers?"

Bellossom replied: "We already know that Luxray is a murderer. From what he told us about the expedition in the Amazon we can be very certain that he is prepared to kill again if it means saving himself."

"That's true." Ninetales paused for a moment. "What about the accusation against you?"

Bellossom's voice went colder than usual. "What about it?"

Ninetales pressed on. "You keep refusing to say whether or not the accusation is correct."

Bellossom said: "If I fully explain the incident involving Whismur's death, will you stop egging me on?"

"Yes."

Bellossom cooled herself and began to talk. "Whismur used to be a servant in my home. I had good faith in her and I believed she was a very well-rounded girl. But I was deceived. Whismur was in fact a dirty girl with no moral boundaries. She came into my house one day and asked me for money because she was going to have a baby. So, I sacked her."

"But, surely, a new baby is wonderful, isn't it?"

"Usually, yes. But in this instance it was not. Whismur was not married, and the father of the unborn child had bad blood. I decided that I would not have a wretched girl like Whismur working under my roof. So I sacked her."

"Then how did Whismur die."

"Whismur's final sin was suicide. She threw herself into the river."

Ninetales was unimaginably horrified. _She made the poor girl kill herself!_ Ninetales quickly prepared a plate of cold meat and left the kitchen.

* * *

Lunch had been eaten in silence. 3 Pokemon sat on each side of the dining room table. Judge Slowking rose from his seat and said: "I think we review the evidence of these matters. I believe we must notify each other of our movements at the time of each murder."

There was silence. The judge continued.

"We have already established that anyone could have approached Cubone the night before last and spiked his drink. On that same night, while Minun was clearing away in the dining room, anyone could have entered Plusle's room and said "Nurse Chansey says you must take extra pills". Plusle would be too dazed to refuse."

"That doesn't get us anywhere," said Nurse Chansey.

"No," said Slowking, "it doesn't. That is why we must examine the third murder victim, General Wobbuffet. Luxray passed the general during the search, so he had opportunity. I don't believe anyone saw Raticate while they were inside the house, so he had opportunity. Ninetales was on the beach moments before the general died, so she has the most ample amount of time to murder Wobbuffet. Bellossom and I were walking around the terrace all morning, if either of us had turned our backs, one of us could have walked down to the beach and attacked the general. I don't believe Nurse Chansey had any time at all to murder General Wobbuffet."

Ninetales reacted fast to this opinion. "I disagree with you, Nurse Chansey had a very good time to murder the general."

"What?" shouted Nurse Chansey. "When?"

"When you went to fetch General Wobbuffet at lunch time."

"He had been dead for hours before I found him!"

"That could be a lie. You're the only one here with any medical knowledge, you can claim someone has been dead for hours and no-one can contradict you."

"That is a very fair point," said Judge Slowking, "But that still doesn't bring us to any conclusion. We must now examine the circumstances of the fourth murder, Minun's death. Minun had to have died before the usual wake-up time, so anyone could have got up early and went downstairs to find Minun and shove the axe in him. After that, the murderer either goes back to his or her room, or goes for a walk." Judge Slowking looked at Bellossom when he said this.

"So that doesn't get us anywhere either," said Luxray.

"We all had a chance to commit all four murders," said Luxray.

Nothing could be done. There was no fair way of deciding who the murderer was most likely to be.

Then Ninetales said: "Is there a beehive on the island?"

"Why do you ask that?" asked Luxray.

"Because that will have something to do with the next victim. It's in the next verse of the poem: _6 little Pokemon playing with a hive, a bumblebee stung one and then there were 5_."

"I didn't see a beehive during my walk this morning," said Bellossom, "Oh, has anyone seen my knitting wool? I think someone is stealing it."

"I haven't seen any," said Raticate, "The bathroom curtain still hasn't turned up either."

Bellossom suddenly fell off her chair. Raticate leapt up and ran around the table to her side. Bellossom slowly got up again.

"Sorry, I feel very tired…" she said.

"Tired, eh?" said Nurse Chansey, "I could give you some medicine for that."

"NO!" bellowed Bellossom. "I WILL NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM YOU!"

The Judge slipped out of the room while no-one was looking.

Nurse Chansey was offended. "Suit yourself, Bellossom."

Bellossom said: "I feel a bit giddy, I think I'll sit down in here for a while."

Bellossom got up off the floor and sat on her chair again. Raticate dusted her down and said: "I think we should all meet up again in here later this afternoon."

"Why?" asked Ninetales.

Luxray laughed. "To see which of us remain," he said menacingly, but inside, he finished that sentence with _if any…_

The room cleared and Bellossom was left alone in her chair. She picked up her knitting bag and started knitting vigorously.

_Bzzzzz_.

Bellossom looked up.

_Bzzzzz. Buzzz_.

Bellossom quickly tried to get up but a hand clapped over her mouth and held her back in her chair she struggled to move the hand away so she could scream, but she was only a feeble old woman! She could feel something sharp pressing into her neck…

_The bee is stinging me!_

Bellossom soon found that she could struggle no more. Nor could she move. She was dead.


	4. Life Sentence

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I owb the characters concerned

* * *

Ninetales was feeling very shaky. She sat outside on the edge of the pier, she was alone and fully aware that someone could sneak up behind her and push into the sea. Ninetales was thinking about Lucario, and his face when he found out Riolu was dead. _Did he think I'd killed Riolu? We were in love, why should he think for a moment that I would kill someone?_

Ninetales stared at a reflection in the seawater. For just a moment, she thought she could see Lucario's face staring back at her. _Nonsense_, she thought, _I'll never see Lucario again…_

Ninetales began to cry, so she started to make her way back up to the house.

She entered through the back door and went up the stairs to her room to get a tissue. She paused when she passed Luxray's room. She'd heard a clicking sound so she bent down and peered through the keyhole into Luxray's bedroom.

Luxray was in there, he was loading a gun! Ninetales gasped and Luxray obviously heard her because he was suddenly standing in the doorway looking down at her.

"What's the matter? You've been crying," he said.

"It's nothing," said Ninetales, and she ran back downstairs and into the lounge. Raticate and Nurse Chansey were sitting in there.

"Hello, Ninetales," said Raticate, "I was just saying that I think Judge Slowking is the murderer."

"Why do you say that?" asked Ninetales.

Raticate lowered his voice. "I think the judge knows too much. He describes everything in great detail; it's as if he'd been at the scene of the crime. Plus, I find it suspicious that Slowking is the only Water-type yet his "broken" leg stops him from swimming to the mainland to get help."

"Also," added Nurse Chansey, "Slowking is the only Psychic-type. Why can't he simply predict who the murderer is telepathically?"

At that moment, Luxray burst into the room and shouted: "Bellossom has been murdered!"

* * *

5 Pokemon sat around the dining table. In the middle was a stumpy pedestal, and atop that were 5 little statuettes. 5 Pokemon, all afraid of each other. Judge Slowking, his eyes scanning the other four. Raticate, huddled at one end of the table. Nurse Chansey, the smile wiped off her face. Luxray, his spirit caught in congestion and Ninetales, her innocence doubted by the others.

Ninetales believed any of the others could be the murderer. _That nurse, she could put something in my drink or my food. Slowking, his intelligence is almost frightening; he might be cunning enough to be the crazed lunatic we fear. Raticate, those enormous teeth, he could gnaw me in two if I turn my back. Luxray, he has a gun, he also has the strength to effortlessly overpower me. Yes, it's Luxray, he's the killer…_

Judge Slowking rose to his feet and said: "Half of us are dead. I believe there is no point in holding anything back. I will confess. The host accused me of wrongfully giving the death penalty to Houndoom. It's perfectly true."

**FLASHBACK**:

"All rise for the honourable Judge Slowking."

"Would the defendant please rise?"

"Houndoom, you have been charged with the murder of Roserade, you have plead "not guilty". Your defence council actively presented strong evidence, however I have summed up and I declare you guilty of murder. The punishment is death."

"No! I never killed anyone! I'm not guilty!"

"Silence!"

"You can't do this to me! You can't!"

**END FLASHBACK**.

"I sentenced him to death because I had prejudice against the Dark-type. That is why I have been given my own death sentence on this island." Judge Slowking turned to Nurse Chansey and said: "Nurse, the truth, please."

Nurse Chansey stood as Slowking sat down. She sighed deeply. "The host accused me of killing Wormadam during an operation. It is true. I was drunk at the time, I didn't know what I was doing."

**FLASHBACK**:

"Nurse Chansey, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, never been better! Happy! Oh, goodness this Wormadam looks hideous! Why is she asleep?"

"You're about to operate on her, nurse. Are you sure you're OK, you keep hiccupping."

"I'm finer than fine! Hemmingway salutes you! OK, Worm, this won't hurt a bit, hahahahahahaha!"

**END FLASHBACK**.

"I say I was guilty of nothing more drinking, not of killing."

Nurse Chansey sat down slowly and rested her head upon the table. Judge Slowking turned his gaze upon Raticate.

"Would you like to be honest with us, Raticate?"

"I suppose there's no point denying it anymore," said Raticate, "The host says I gave false evidence in court and caused the death of Poliwhirl. I'm afraid I must confess. Poliwhirl never did anything wrong, but I was involved with a gang of Sharpedo that were out to get him. Poliwhirl was on trial for attempted mass murder, he was innocent of course. I lied to the court."

**FLASHBACK**:

"Raticate, would you please tell us what you saw?"

"I saw Poliwhirl break into the camp and he came out a short while later with a number of explosive packs. The bus wasn't very far away, I saw Poliwhirl strap the bombs to the underside of the bus."

"Poliwhirl, I sentence you to life in prison!"

**END FLASHBACK**.

"Poliwhirl went two months in prison before he used the chord on his belt to hang himself. I didn't know he would have killed himself in jail! How could I have known?"

Ninetales knew that she was going to be interrogated next. She quickly stood up and went to the door.

"It's cold, I'm going to my room to fetch my coat," she said as she left.

Ninetales closed the door firmly behind her. _If they're all in there together, the murderer won't be able to leave to kill me._ She went up the stairs and opened the door to her room. The lights weren't on, Ninetales tried to turn them on but the fuse must be broken. Ninetales walked into the pitch-black room very slowly. She could feel something around her neck, a hand, a pair of cold hands around her neck. _It's Lucario out for revenge!_ Ninetales screamed as loud as she could before turning around and running out of the room and across the landing. Suddenly, all of the lights went out, Ninetales screamed again. She tried to run in a random direction but hit something hard and fell to the floor. She bunched up and didn't move.

Some time passed, there were a lot of shuffling noises.

"Ninetales, are you alright?"

Ninetales recognised Luxray's voice. She looked up and saw Luxray crouched in front of her with a hand on her shoulder. Raticate and Nurse Chansey were standing either side of Luxray.

Ninetales started stuttering. "He-he was in my room, I…I could feel a hand…"

Raticate turned round and went into Ninetales' room. There was a fizzing noise and the lights came on again. Raticate returned and said that there was nothing in Ninetales' room of any threat.

Then Ninetales realised. "Where's Judge Slowking?"

Chansey looked around behind her. "I'm sure he was right behind me on the staircase."

"I heard a gunshot," said Raticate, "We can't go downstairs, if Slowking has a gun he'll shoot us all!"

Luxray ignored Raticate and led the way downstairs. The dining room door was closed; Luxray slowly opened it and beheld the extraordinary sight.

Judge Slowking was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. He was wearing a bright red robe (the missing bathroom curtain) and a grey wig (Bellossom's lost knitting wool). Candles were burning at his sides. There was a small red spot in the middle of Judge Slowking's forehead.

Nurse Chansey pushed past Luxray and peered into Slowking's face. She turned round and said quietly: "He's been shot through the head."

* * *

Luxray and Raticate carried the judge's body up to his room. Nurse Chansey couldn't believe what had happened. Ninetales pointed out that there were only 4 little Pokemon statuettes remaining.

It had been dark, and everyone was running around everywhere, anyone could have shot Judge Slowking.

Afterwards, everyone assembled on the landing. The remaining four. The four survivors.

Nurse Chansey said to Ninetales: "This is your fault. You screamed to get us up here and now the judge is dead. You're the murderer."

Luxray stepped in. "Hold on, nurse, it was either you or Raticate who did this and now you're trying to pin it on Ninetales."

"I don't even have a gun!" said Chansey.

"Luxray does," said Ninetales.

"Anyone could have taken that gun from my room," said Luxray.

The four concluded that they could do nothing more than retire to bed. They all entered their room at the same time and locked their doors.


	5. The End

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I own the characters concerned

* * *

Raticate lay awake in bed. He turned to the clock at his bedside. 3:00am. Raticate very quickly reviewed his life. _People say "treasure every moment" but they don't understand what it feels like to know that every moment you have could be your last_.

Raticate's sensitive ears twitched. He could hear a noise outside his room. It sounded like footsteps. _Someone has left their room, and the only reason they would leave their room is to murder one of the others!_

Raticate waited for by the door for the noise to stop, and then he slowly opened the door. He stepped out onto the landing. He walked across Nurse Chansey's door, and knocked.

There was no answer.

Raticate opened the door – it was unlocked! He went into the nurse's room, Nurse Chansey was not there.

Raticate thought _if the other two are both in their rooms, Nurse Chansey is the murderer!_

Raticate tiptoed to Luxray's door and knocked.

"Who's there?" said Luxray.

"It's Raticate, Nurse Chansey isn't in her room."

Luxray opened the door, holding his gun. He and Raticate roused Ninetales and she came out as well.

"I heard footsteps so I thought someone must be trying to murder someone else," said Raticate.

There came another noise, a cluttering noise.

"That sounded like the front door closing," said Luxray, "Nurse Chansey must have left."

The 3 Pokemon slowly descended the stairs. Raticate peeked into the dining room.

"There are only 3 little Pokemon figures left," he said.

Ninetales tried to remember the poem. _4 little Pokemon went out to sea, a red herring swallowed one and then there were 3. A red herring!_

"Nurse Chansey wants us to think she's dead," said Ninetales, "The poem mentions a red herring, and a red herring is a sign of deception. Chansey wants us to think she's dead!"

Luxray and Raticate nodded in agreement. Ninetales noticed that she didn't know what time it was. She looked around the room for the Ursaring clock, but it was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged and said: "We can't stay here. That psycho nurse could be anywhere by now."

"Where else can we go?"

"I want to get as far away from this house as I can," squealed Ninetales, "lets go down to the pier."

The 3 Pokemon left the house and began climbing down the stone steps to the pier. Half-way there, Raticate stopped.

"We'll have to go back to the house eventually," he said, "We have to eat."

"You don't have much imagination, do you?" said Luxray.

"What do you mean?"

"Raticate, your mind is very narrow; a criminal like Nurse Chansey could make rings around you whenever she feels like it."

Raticate looked insulted and said: "I'm going back to the house to get supplies."

"We'll stay here," said Ninetales, but then she though, _am I really safe with Luxray?_

Raticate walked back up to the house. Luxray and Ninetales sat quietly for a short while.

Luxray said: "Well, what have you got to say for yourself?"

Ninetales was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I want you to confess."

"Confess to what?"

"Drowning that kid."

"NO!"

Luxray was annoyed. "Come on, Ninetales, everyone else has confessed. The host believed we were all guilty of crimes which the law couldn't touch. Therefore, the host has not committed any past crime if he thinks he can fairly execute us. If you won't confess then I'll start believing that you're the murderer instead of Nurse Chansey."

Ninetales understood that there was no point denying it any longer.

**FLASHBACK**:

"Please, Miss Ninetales, let me swim out to the rock. I can do it, I really can!"

"No, Riolu, the water is too deep out there!"

"Please!"

"Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll distract Lucario for a moment, and you swim out to the rock."

"Yippee!"

"When you get there, wave to your uncle and he'll be really impressed."

"Okay, off I go."

**END FLASHBACK**.

Ninetales sighed. "I was so in love with Lucario, and he loved me too. But if got married, we wouldn't be able to afford to educate Riolu, so we couldn't marry while Riolu was still around."

"What did Lucario do when he saw Riolu in the sea?" asked Luxray.

"I pretended to swim out in an attempt to rescue Riolu, but I "didn't get there in time" and Riolu drowned."

"So why didn't you marry Lucario after that?"

Ninetales sighed again. "I remember the look on his face when the coast guard retrieved the body," she said, "Lucario just stood there, looking at me. He never said another word to me. No-one thought I killed Riolu, but I bet Lucario did."

"How would Nurse Chansey have found out about that?"

Ninetales shrugged. _No-one except Lucario knows…_

Meanwhile, Raticate had just arrived back at the house. He trotted over to the front door and tried to open it. The door was locked. _Nurse Chansey locked us out!_

Raticate stepped back a bit and looked up. There was an open window above the door. In that window frame there sat a clock, a great, big, marble clock in the shape of an Ursaring, a bear. The clock seemed to be shuffling towards the edge of the window. Raticate thought, _if that bear gets any closer to the edge it will fall._

The clock fell.

A dull thud and terrible scream could be heard all over the island.

In minutes, Luxray and Ninetales had run up to the seen, they stood staring at the rat's corpse. Luxray kept his distance and had his gun at the ready. Ninetales cowered behind Luxray.

Luxray said: "I thought Raticate could hold his own against Nurse Chansey."

"But you're forgetting that Nurse Chansey is mad, she's twice as cunning as anyone sane can be," said Ninetales. "Look, she even used that clock, it's in that bloody poem, _3 little Pokemon walking in the zoo, a big bear hugged one and then there were 2_. It's enough to drive anyone to insanity! We're the last 2!"

"We'll go down to the beach, Nurse Chansey may have killed Raticate but he's not going to kill us. We can sit on the beach and wait for Lapras to come, it is Monday after all."

Ninetales and Luxray ran down to the beach. They were scared. At last, Luxray's cunning mind had crippled, and he was frightened. Ninetales could see that Luxray had a very firm grip on his gun.

They stood on the beach and looked up at the cliffs. There was no noise, except that of the waves against the rocks. Ninetales gazed along the shore. The expanse of the sea, crashing against the sand. Pieces of green seaweed, and…pink seaweed? _Seaweed isn't pink; it isn't that big either…_

Ninetales pointed at the pink mass at the far end of the beach and said: "Luxray, what's that?"

Luxray turned to look at the pink blob. He had no idea what it could be. They both went to look at the pink item more closely.

They stood right next to the enormous pink entity. Luxray bent over it and cleared some green seaweed off it and then found himself staring into a cold, watery face.

"It's Chansey," he said.

Ninetales didn't believe. _How can it be Chansey? Chansey can't be dead; if Chansey's dead she can't have killed Raticate. Then who did kill Raticate?_ Ninetales looked sideways at Luxray. _I have to get that gun away from him. It has to be him, all this time and he is the killer._

"You do know what this means, don't you?" said Luxray.

Ninetales nodded. "I see, poor Nurse Chansey."

"What's this? Womanly pity?"

"Why not? Haven't you any pity?"

"No, don't expect it."

Ninetales looked down at the nurse. "We must move her; take her up to the house."

"To join the other victims, I suppose? All neat and tidy."

"Let's at least get her out of reach of the sea."

Luxray laughed in Ninetales' face. "Fine, if you like."

"Nurse Chansey is too heavy me," Ninetales said.

Luxray laughed again, put down is gun and dragged the pink corpse up the beach a little way. Ninetales stealthily picked up the gun and hid it behind her back.

Luxray turned round after dragging away the nurse and looked down at the sand. He was unable to find his gun. He looked up at Ninetales. She was pointing the gun straight at Luxray.

"So this is how it ends, eh?"

"Yes," said Ninetales. "Yes, I'm going to stop you. I don't know how you made the bear fall on Raticate but it had to have been you! There's no other explanation!"

"I'm telling you now that I am not the murderer!"

"You have to be! I know I'm not and you're the only other living soul on the island!"

Luxray knew that his time had come. He made a last gamble for his life and lunged at Ninetales, who pulled the trigger and Luxray crashed onto the sand, dead.

Ninetales was alone on Pokemon Island. She believed she had killed the murderer. Ninetales knelt down by Luxray's body and sang into his unhearing ear: _2 little Pokemon sitting in the sun, one got frizzled up and then there was 1. _

Ninetales finished singing and released a flame from her mouth and watched as Luxray burned.


	6. Confession

Note: I do not own Pokemon or And Then There Were None, nor do I own the characters concerned

* * *

Ninetales stood alone on the beach of Pokemon Island. To her left was a drowned nurse; to her right were the ashes of a brute. Ninetales didn't care that her only company was nine corpses. She had survived!

_How does that poem end? Perhaps the last little Pokemon gets to go home and marry her true love…_

"You always have looked your best while killing."

_Oh, someone is talking to me, but there isn't anyone else alive on the island…_

"I bet you're confused now."

_I know that voice, but he can't be here…_

Ninetales turned round. She was still in such a daze that she couldn't grasp the fact that Lucario was standing in front of her, smiling.

_Lucario can't be here…I'm imagining it…Raticate and Luxray searched the island; no-one else could possibly be here…_

Ninetales wanted to speak, but she was with her lover again. In her mind there was no Pokemon Island anymore, no bodies, no poem, no statuettes, no house, nothing but Lucario…

"Let's go up to the house," said Lucario. He took Ninetales' arm and they walked together up to the house.

Ninetales managed to speak: "How did you get here?"

Lucario continued walking and smiling and began to explain. "I was here before Plusle and Minun started work. I hid from them until you, Luxray, Raticate, Chansey and the others arrived. I'd been hiding in Cubone's room; I knew that I would have killed Cubone before the first night. I came out that night and took some extra pills out of Chansey's bag, and gave them to Plusle. Plusle was so tired she didn't care who gave her pills. I hid in Cubone's room again during the search; I knew that no-one would bother to search a dead guy's room. When the rain started I left the house and ran to the beach and clobbered Wobbuffet with a brick. I guessed Minun would get up early to chop more wood for the fire so he picked up the axe and attacked him. Bellossom was knitting in the dining room, I played Combee's Symphony on a tape to make her think a bee was in the room, but it was just me with one of Chansey's syringes. Nurse Chansey and Judge Slowking planned to fake Slowking's death to trick the "unknown host", me, but I really did kill Slowking. Chansey didn't see that Slowking was really dead so she went out to the cliffs very early this morning to wait for Slowking. She found me instead, and I pushed off the cliff and into the sea. Then it was easy, I waited in your room with the Ursaring clock and dropped it on Raticate when he came back to the house. You took care of Luxray for me. It all went according to the poem."

Ninetales was struggling to take this in. _My love has killed so many people…_

Lucario unlocked the door to the house and took Ninetales into the lounge. He sat on a sofa and Ninetales lay across his lap in a romantic fashion.

"Why?" asked Ninetales, "Why did you do it all?"

Lucario looked down at Ninetales. "I always wanted to marry you, but Riolu was in the way. I planned to kill Riolu myself but you got there first. I was happy in a way, but I started to doubt you – I still loved you regardless. I did, however, start to think that murder should be unforgivable. I decided I should take a load of people, isolate them on this island, which I own, and then punish them myself. In a way, I was carrying out justice."

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Ninetales. She had had another blissful moment with her love and no longer feared death.

"I could never do that," said Lucario. "But you must understand that this really is the end. We can't leave the island and marry. We'll be given death sentences."

Ninetales understood. They were both murderers. And the voice of General Wobbuffet was coming back into Ninetales' mind. _"It is the end, you see. We are here forever…"_

Ninetales and Lucario got up and Lucario took Ninetales into the dining room. There were 2 nooses hanging from the ceiling. Ninetales understood was this meant. We have to die; it's all supposed to happen.

The lovers each placed their heads in the nooses. They began to sing:

"_10 little Pokemon went out to dine,_

_One choked his little self and then there were 9;_

_9 little Pokemon sat up very late,_

_One overslept himself and then there were 8;_

_8 little Pokemon travelling in Devon,_

_One said he'd stay there and then there were 7;_

_7 little Pokemon chopping up sticks,_

_One chopped himself in halves and then there were 6;_

_6 little Pokemon playing with a hive,_

_A bumblebee stung one and then there were 5;_

_5 little Pokemon going in for law'_

_One got into Chancery and then there were 4;_

_4 little Pokemon went out to sea,_

_A red herring swallowed one and then there were 3;_

_3 little Pokemon walking in the zoo,_

_A big bear hugged one and then there were 2;_

_2 little Pokemon sitting in the sun,_

_One got frizzled up and then there was one;_

_1 little Pokemon left all alone,_

_He went and hanged himself –"_

They hanged themselves.

_And Then There Were None._

* * *

Pokemon Island remained silent forever.


End file.
